This invention relates to a spectacle frame having a lockable custom fitting nosepiece and an assembly kit therefor.
There are a wide variety of spectacle frame/nosepiece combinations that have been designed to accomplish a variety of different purposes. In some cases nosepieces have been molded as part of the frame. While this avoids the need for subsequent assembly of the nosepiece to the frame, it has the disadvantage of requiring that the nosepiece and frame be made of the same material and of allowing for only one size of nosepiece per frame, unless separate frame molds are made for each nosepiece size desired.
In other cases separate nosepieces have been attached to frames in a variety of ways, some permanently and other temporarily. Nosepieces which are removable, such as clip-on types, can become detached at inopportune times, causing inconvenience to the wearer. Permanently attached nosepieces, such as those attached through adhesive, welding, soldering, fasteners, etc., require special secondary operations to make the attachment and require either a trained person or special tools or equipment. This can be cumbersome, expensive and time consuming.
It would be an advantage to provide a spectacle frame with a selection of interchangeable custom-fitting nosepieces that could be manually attached thereto without the use of tools, then permenantly locked in place after the correctness of the fit is checked.
The advantages of such a system are as follows: One frame sizes can be used with a variety of nosepiece sizes to enable that single frame to be utilized by a wide variety of wearers. The nosepiece can be made of a material different from the frame. Manual installation avoids the time, expense and equipment involved with secondary operations required by other types of attachment. The locking feature avoids inadvertent detachment of the nosepieces.